For a long time now I’ve been very aware of my need to die to myself, take up my cross daily, and follow Jesus. It’s the foundation for the Christian life, it’s essential for discipleship, and it’s the core of the Gospel message that Jesus came and died to bring us. But lately, I’ve been focused mostly on my side of this equation instead of on the entire process. Mainly, what I’ve been missing is the perspective of the… Read more
December 29, 2017
You Are God’s Dream Come True
December 29, 2017 By Keith Giles
13 Comments
Consider this: God knows the end from the beginning. This means He can never have a new thought. Therefore, the idea of you was fully realized in God’s heart and mind from eternity. Even before God said, “Let there be light”, you existed in His foreknowledge. ** If God was dreaming before the creation of the Universe, He was dreaming about you and me. Paul says that “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus.” (See Eph.. 2:10) ** This means that… Read more
December 29, 2017
Are We Beatitude People?
December 29, 2017 By Keith Giles
6 Comments
I’m not sure how it happened, exactly, but somehow Christians today seem to have completely misunderstood the Gospel of Jesus. When they hear that an off-color British comedian has endorsed the way of Jesus and has encouraged everyone to take Christ more seriously, their response is to say, “He’s a hater of God!” and “If he’s not coming from a Christian perspective, why do we want to listen to him?” Instead of rejoicing that this foul-mouthed comedic actor has… Read more
December 23, 2017
Why We Misunderstand Verses Like “Go And Buy A Sword”
December 23, 2017 By Keith Giles
7 Comments
Image: Pixabay In the dialog between Christians about whether or not following Jesus entails embracing a non-violent lifestyle, there are certain verses in the New Testament that have to be addressed. ** For example, whenever non-violent Christians quote Jesus saying, “Put your sword back in its place…for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” (Matthew 26: 52), there are pro-war Christians who will respond by saying, “(Jesus) said to them, ‘But now let the one who… Read more
December 21, 2017
Why God Can’t Keep A Secret
December 21, 2017 By Keith Giles
0 Comments
In Colossians, Paul tells us about a great secret that God had from the beginning. It was a marvelous secret. But God just couldn’t keep his mouth shut about it. What is God’s great secret? It’s Jesus. As Paul puts it, God has “hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” in Christ. [See Col. 2:3] But God doesn’t want to keep this secret. On the contrary, now that it’s out, He wants everyone “to reach all the riches… Read more
December 18, 2017
Why Did Jesus Save Paul From His Own People?
December 18, 2017 By Keith Giles
3 Comments
Reading through Acts the other day, I came across a little phrase that stunned me. It’s when Jesus appears to Paul (Saul) on the road to Damascus, knocks him off his ass (literally) and tells him that He is appearing in order to “rescue you from the Jewish people…” Here’s the actual passage: “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not… Read more
December 16, 2017
God’s Brilliant Trap
December 16, 2017 By Keith Giles
1 Comment
“As for you, you were dead in our transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air…All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of ire, but because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in… Read more
December 14, 2017
If Hell Isn’t Eternal, Why Preach The Gospel?
December 14, 2017 By Keith Giles
33 Comments
For most of us, the idea of an eternal hell is almost universally accepted as being what the Bible teaches. We almost cannot imagine any other view being taken seriously. However, that was not always the case. In fact, for MOST of early Church history, there were 3 different views of Hell, and the eternal suffering viewpoint was in the minority. Note this reference in the New Schaff-Herzog Christian Encyclopedia which says: “The earliest system of Universalistic theology was by… Read more
December 13, 2017
How Evangelicals Are Taking the “Christ” Out Of Christianity
December 13, 2017 By Keith Giles
26 Comments
American Christians have an unfortunate blind spot when it comes to politics. While they worry about how to put “Christ” back into Christmas, many of them are slowly but surely taking the “Christ” out of Christianity. For example, for the last few weeks Christian leaders like Jerry Falwell, Jr., Franklin Graham, James Dobson, and others have vocally supported the Republican candidate for the US Senate in Alabama, Roy Moore, and last night 80% of White Evangelical Christians voted to place him… Read more
December 8, 2017
Has Jesus Asked You Into His Life?
December 8, 2017 By Keith Giles
8 Comments
“If you stopped learning today you wouldn’t live long enough to put into practice all that you already know.” – Fenelon, 15th century Bishop. [Paraphrased from the book, “Let Go”] This quote has stuck with me for a long time now. I believe it’s true. For most of us, the time for learning new information about Jesus is long over. It’s way past the time for putting into practice what we already know that Jesus commanded us to do. Sadly,… Read more
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